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Sam Altman’s Manifest Destiny

newyorker.com

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Re: Sam Altman’s Manifest Destiny

#271

Post by vonnik »

idlewords wrote: post #267
vonnik wrote: post #243

There are great insights in this piece into how Sam thinks about AI and the future of YC. But getting profiled in The New Yorker bears a risk, and the risk is that other media organizations try to tell the "down" story, because the down story is the only new thing to say after a subject is painted with such grandiose brush strokes. Example: Marc Andreessen gets profiled in The New Yorker and a year later the WSJ publ…

You're suggesting the reporter is doing something perfidious. Quoting a subject making a fool of himself to you on the record is not "dropping bombs", it's good journalism.

That depends on your goals for the piece. If you want to interview them again, then you're more careful. That's why, from the source's point of view, it's best to work with beat reporters and have long term relationships.

Re: Sam Altman’s Manifest Destiny

#272

Post by JBReefer »

danjoc wrote: post #149
apsec112 wrote: post #51

I continue to be impressed by the quality of The New Yorker's reporting. This is so far above and beyond most media coverage about Altman and YC.

My impression: It is 46 pages printed. I opened the link, read three paragraphs, and still not a word about the Manifest Destiny mentioned in the title. Closed it. Way too long. Way too much story telling.

That's what good journalism looks like, especially when it covers complex topics

Re: Sam Altman’s Manifest Destiny

#273

Post by snark42 »

aetherson wrote: post #252
wturner wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Economic growth" can exist on a computer screen completely decoupled from the "real world" and independent of a strong middle class. IMHO An economically strong middle class is needed to maintain social order. This mitigates the public from hunting and and killing the rich and keeps the public from displacing their social frustrations on to each other and creating riots. Generally its a better existence for everyone…

Historically speaking, I don't feel like the basic way that society fails is by "hunting and killing the rich." I mean, you can MAYBE gloss the communist revolutions of the early 20th Century that way. What else?

What if you view riches in the form of power instead of just money?

Re: Sam Altman’s Manifest Destiny

#274

Post by bootload »

vardhanw wrote: post #153
bootload wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Before HN there was PG's blog. Before pg's blog, there was /., before /. there was Carmack's .plan file ~ https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12575501

How is /. now compared to YC?

slashdot was/is a message board on hacker-like things a proto-HN sans the startup stuff.

Re: Sam Altman’s Manifest Destiny

#276

Post by danjoc »

JBReefer wrote: post #272
danjoc wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My impression: It is 46 pages printed. I opened the link, read three paragraphs, and still not a word about the Manifest Destiny mentioned in the title. Closed it. Way too long. Way too much story telling.

That's what good journalism looks like, especially when it covers complex topics

"At a hundred and thirty pounds, Altman is poised as a clothespin, fierce as a horned owl."

to me, sounds like a romance novel, not objective reporting. From a group that espouses the virtues of a 30 second elevator pitch, I find the down voting odd. There's an incredible amount of verbosity here that essentially adds nothing to the article. At 46 pages, that's roughly half the size of the entire GoLang specification.

Long articles are fine so long as the length is required to convey the information presented. Based on the first few paragraphs, this one appears to actively waste time with pretentiousness. Not my cup of tea.

Re: Sam Altman’s Manifest Destiny

#277

Post by selimthegrim »

internaut wrote: post #221
sebastos wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you provide any links / reading related to some "other systems in G-space"? Sounds interesting.

Sure. For clarification: by G-space I meant 'how to govern well' or 'how to solve problems about, with, or in governance'. This is obviously an enormous topic area. It is also a dangerous and highly contentious subject matter filled with many taboos, due to its nature and importance. That said political scholars, like economists, have come to many consensus realizations. This is kind of amazing since Hillary Clinton…

Loving the James Scott fan club on HN. Putting in a plug for the Art of Not Being Governed as well.

Re: Sam Altman’s Manifest Destiny

#278

Post by blackbagboys »

vonnik wrote: post #243

There are great insights in this piece into how Sam thinks about AI and the future of YC. But getting profiled in The New Yorker bears a risk, and the risk is that other media organizations try to tell the "down" story, because the down story is the only new thing to say after a subject is painted with such grandiose brush strokes. Example: Marc Andreessen gets profiled in The New Yorker and a year later the WSJ publ…

How dare he not humble himself before the god-kings.

The negative passages are an integral part of the story, which is about a wealthy and powerful guy living in a closed-off bubble of wealthy and powerful guys with limited or no outside supervision, and a capacity for self-reflection bounded within an extraordinarily limited scope. It may not be the story you want to be told, but it's a perfectly legitimate take on the situation.

Re: Sam Altman’s Manifest Destiny

#279

Post by _xhok »

idlewords wrote: post #267
vonnik wrote: post #243

There are great insights in this piece into how Sam thinks about AI and the future of YC. But getting profiled in The New Yorker bears a risk, and the risk is that other media organizations try to tell the "down" story, because the down story is the only new thing to say after a subject is painted with such grandiose brush strokes. Example: Marc Andreessen gets profiled in The New Yorker and a year later the WSJ publ…

You're suggesting the reporter is doing something perfidious. Quoting a subject making a fool of himself to you on the record is not "dropping bombs", it's good journalism.

His motives could still be perfidious.
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